Autumn Festival In Hangzhou Poem by Raymond Farrell

Today
As I sit
Under the locust tree
I reflect on the fact
I will be experiencing
My first
Autumn Festival
The mood
Gently, like the leaves
Coming down from the trees
Has descended upon Hangzhou
Dr Bao
Told me to pick
The flowers from the Guihau (Osmanthus fragrans) tree
And put them in my tea
And this evening
I have done just that
When I came in with a bowl full
Hanna, whose English is little
But whose generosity is much
Met me
And gave me two Moon cakes
To celebrate the festival
And bring me good luck
And longevity
I went to my room
Through the moon lit hallway
Where I brewed
A decoction of tea and guihua petals
And drank it while eating a Moon cake
Like a ravished hound
I did it again
And without further ado
I went out into the night
And made my way
To the steps of building 18
Which offered me
The best vantage point
To look up at the full moon
The night was neither hot nor cold
The air was still
As a corpse
After rigor mortis has set in
I stared at the full moon
As in the background
The crickets sang
Not in the rapid loud tones
Of the summer's heat
But in the soft melodious tones
Of autumn's refreshing repree
If a mad man
Would have come after me
With a pitch fork
I could not have run
To save my life
Because I was
As full as a tick
And as dreamy, placcid and contented
As a maid
Who has found her first love.